SEBI, IRDA working on insurance IPOs

Life insurance majors like SBI Life Insurance, HDFC Standard Life, Reliance Life and ICICI Prudential may be able to launch initial public offers in the current fiscal itself as the insurance regulator IRDA and capital market regulator SEBI, fresh out of a turf war, have resumed the process for listing these companies. The necessary guidelines are under preparation.

The insurance regulator has already restarted consultations with SEBI to prepare the final draft on the valuation method to be adopted in the case of insurance companies, sources said.

“In simple terms, the embedded value of a life insurer is the sum of the adjusted net worth and the value of in-force business allowing for the cost of solvency margin held. In consultation with IRDA, we will soon come out with a method for calculating this,” said a SEBI official involved in the process.

Disclosure requirements for insurance companies intending to list are in the final form and are likely to be released by the end of the month.